The Naturally Horrid Thing Called Jealousy
by Natsu Naito
Summary: Yuffentine - A oneshot about the very despicable thing that Vincent cannot escape when it comes to his dear Yuffie. Slight CloTi.


**author's note**: Hey! I haven't been very active, cause school's been kicking my butt, but lately I've been really interested in improving my writing. So, what better way than to write a ton of fanfics? I have a list of 100 drabble prompts, a lot of which will be going to Yuffentine, if any of you are interested. I'm not entirely proud of this, but it's a starting point, and let's hope I'm a smidgen better by the end of the 100!

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Jealousy is a cruel thing; perhaps that was why it fit so seamlessly into his world, not needing any extra shove. That didn't necessarily make it any easier for the red clad male to handle, though - maybe only worse, because he found himself warring with the pain of such selfish feelings and the ever present thought that he deserved to suffer in it.

How else was he to react when she was lavishing another in all the attention that was generally directed towards himself? At the moment, the spunky black haired kunoichi was jumping eagerly around a visiting male - the fact that said male was Cloud didn't matter to Vincent, only the fact that her beaming smile and sparkling eyes was something he had grown used to seeing when it was only himself and her. (Of course, going by the fact that they had been the only two around for quite some time, working on his dilapidated mansion as they were, it wasn't a surprise that the cheery girl had only smiled in his company.)

"Vincent." Spoken with a simple nod of his head, the blonde stood almost awkwardly under the harsh gaze that was currently upon him. Past leader or not, it was odd to be on the receiving end of his friend's glare (even if 'friend' was something the raven haired man often refused to acknowledge), and far from comfortable. Just as his lips parted to say another word, the energized girl cut him off.

"Didjya hear the good news, Vince?!" The smile upon her petite face grew even more, if possible, as she threw an arm around Cloud in a way that made the oldest of the trio frown a bit more. "Cloud and Teef are having a baby!"

That sentence threw Vincent off substantially, just as it caused a lovely red color to spring up on Cloud's cheeks. Apparently, the blonde was still rather unused to having his personal life thrown to the wind with such ease and carefreeness (something that, in all honesty, couldn't have been anything less than entirely expected when it came to telling the Wutaiian girl anything). And the towering male in the tattered crimson cloak was nothing less than extraordinarily confused.

Perhaps in the jealous rage induced at the sight of Yuffie smiling and laughing in the way she often did around him - even though they were not similar in the least, but after locking himself away for so long it couldn't be expected that he knew how to read body language - he had forgotten entirely that Cloud was devoted to his girlfriend of several years. Foolish, without a doubt, but he believed it to be an understandable err in judgement and thought.

The visiting blonde grew less tense as the gaze softened, lingering only momentarily on Yuffie before falling to him once more. Perhaps had the cloak not been in the way, the slightest quirk of lips would have been seen - but it wasn't, and thus no further commentary was made besides a simple, "Congratulations."

Any other words were spoken by Yuffie, including the decision that they would hold a surprise baby shower for Tifa and they would be certain to visit more often. And then Cloud was gone, and almost all lingering traces of jealousy had been forcefully flushed from his half dead veins, a process more easily accomplished as the kunoichi plopped with ease right beside his seat on the couch.

"You were jeeealous," a teasing tone danced through her words as she poked his arm playfully, leaning against him to better peer at his book. Yet something in that joking certainty was unsteady, as if it was searching for the truth rather than stating it. He gave her only a glance, brow raising in thiny veiled curiosity.

"...Hn." Rather than play along and submit to the ocean that was Yuffie and her stubbornness, he returned to his book, easily ignoring her continuous poking and prodding and questions. It was something he had learned throughout their time together; it was something he assumed would quell the questions.

But, as always, the Wutaiian managed to surprise him - for, rather than leave the topic alone, she managed to make him jealous at every possible instance, groaning in frustration when he continuously avoided the topic. That is until his patience and control broke and he, rather suddenly, abandoned the self-hating thoughts for a moment to tell her he was in fact jealous, and should she continue such acts, he would kick both her and the stray she allowed to wander into the house out.

And she responded with a grin, leaning up to kiss his cheek before happily running off to the mansion - yelling back a thanks for reminding her of their little pet.


End file.
